Skies over Muscat seemed to smile yesterday night with the crescent moon and the planets –– Venus and Jupiter –– were seen in a rare alignment. The three celestial objects come together from time to time, but often they are too close to the sun or unite at a time when they aren’t so visible. The moon is the brightest, closest and smallest of the three and is 252,000 miles away from earth. Venus, the second brightest, closest and smallest, is 94 million miles away, while the big Jupiter is 540 million miles away.